Trans-Pacific Grouping of 28 University Presidents Meets Via Internet Video-conferencing

Singapore - June 20, 2003 - The Association of Pacific Rim Universities (APRU) held a milestone meeting via Internet video-conferencing yesterday morning (Singapore time).

Coordinated by National University of Singapore (NUS), this meant that the presidents of 28 universities from 14 economies were connected in real-time. These economies included the United States of America, Chile, Australia, New Zealand, China, Japan, Korea, Russia and Southeast Asia.

Said NUS President Shih Choon Fong who is also APRU Chairman: "This Internet video-conference would score APRU a first and a historic record amongst large-scale virtual meetings of universities from around the globe".

NUS Associate President Lawrence Loh who is also APRU Secretary General, added: "This is a bold meeting of immense technical complexities as it involves connecting some 30 sites from across the Pacific Rim. We almost wanted to give up at the first technical trial. We managed to pull through after having several trials. I am relieved that today’s conference is a resounding success."

Said Steven Sample, President of University of Southern California and APRU Chairman Emeritus: "Everyone who participated in the meeting knew that we were part of an historic event that will long be remembered."

The APRU presidents’ meeting is one of the keynote events of the association. It is a unique forum which brings together heads of renowned research universities in the Pacific Rim to discuss matters of strategic importance to research universities in the region.

APRU is a trans-Pacific grouping of 35 leading universities from 16 economies in the Pacific Rim. It aims to encourage cooperation in teaching, research and enterprise on issues of major importance to the Pacific Rim. The APRU Secretariat is hosted by NUS. NUS President Shih Choon Fong is the current Chairman of the association with NUS Associate President Lawrence Loh serving as Secretary General.

Members of APRU include renowned Asian and American universities. Some of the prominent universities include Stanford University, California Institute of Technology, University of California at Berkeley and University of Southern California in the USA; Peking University, Tsinghua University and Fudan University in China as well as University of Tokyo, Kyoto University and Keio University in Japan.

In an important move at today’s meeting, the APRU presidents voted for APRU to be registered as a legal entity in Singapore.  This is a first step towards forming the permanent secretariat of APRU in Singapore.

Said Shih Choon Fong, NUS President and APRU Chairman: "To have APRU legally constituted in Singapore is highly significant. It marks the entry of APRU to a new chapter of our development."

Shih added: "More than anything else, APRU will be well placed to lead and facilitate major initiatives and discussions with important stakeholders on the future of higher education and research."

At this meeting, the APRU presidents also elected to the steering committee; Gu Binglin, President, Tsinghua University and Takeshi Sasaki, President, University of Tokyo. The APRU Steering Committee provides the leadership for the grouping. In addition to Shih, other members of the APRU Steering Committee include: Steven Sample, President, University of Southern California; Gavin Brown, Vice Chancellor, University of Sydney; Luis Riveros, Rector, University of Chile; Henry Yang, Chancellor, University of California at Santa Barbara.

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For more information on APRU's activities, visit www.apru.org.

Media contact:

Carol Lee
Program Manager
APRU Secretariat
Tel: (65) 6874 - 3538
Email: aprucl@nus.edu.sg